1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printer that prints on a web of recording media, and relates more particularly to a printer and a method of controlling transportation of the recording medium whereby the recording medium cutting position can be advanced to the cutter position for cutting after printing, and can then reverse the recording medium so that the next printing start position can be positioned to the printing position of the print head for the next print job.
2. Related Art
Recording media used for printing by a printer include roll paper having a web of recording paper wound into a paper roll, and fanfold paper, which has perforations formed in the recording paper for tearing the recording paper into individual pages with the pages folded at the perforations into a stack. With printers that use fanfold paper, the user normally presses a switch after printing is completed to advance the perforation at the trailing end of the last printed page to the cutting position of the cutter, and then cuts (tears) the paper. Another switch is then pressed to backfeed the paper and index the beginning of the printing area on the next page to the printing position of the print head in preparation for the next print job.
When roll paper is used, the target cutting position following the printed portion of the roll paper is similarly advanced to the cutting position of the cutter, the recording paper is cut, and the recording paper is then backfed in preparation for the next print job.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2007-320134 teaches a printer that prints on fanfold paper and roll paper. The printer taught in JP-A-2007-320134 executes a tear-off operation whereby the target cutting position at the trailing end of the printed page is automatically advanced to and held at the cutting position after printing ends. With this configuration the user does not need to manually advance the recording paper to the cutting position, and can easily cut the recording paper by tearing the printed paper that was automatically advanced to the cutting position, or working a cutter lever to cut the paper.
The recording paper is then left at this advanced position after the user cuts the recording paper, and when the next print job is received, the printer taught in JP-A-2007-320134 automatically backfeeds and resets the recording paper from the cutting position to the printing position of the print head.
When a printer that automatically backfeeds the recording paper when print data is received after the tear-off operation described above is used by multiple users, and print data is received from a second user immediately after the print job from a first user is finished and the tear-off operation is executed, backfeeding the recording paper may start before the first user can tear off the page printed for the first print job. Cutting the printed page before the next print job starts may therefore not be possible. Further possibly, the backfeed operation may start while the first user is cutting the paper, possibly resulting in a paper jam or the recording paper being cut at a position other than the perforation or the intended cutting position. This same problem can occur when a single user sends plural print jobs.